1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved method for displaying messages on a display driven by an electronic device that has a graphical user interface, and more particularly to a method of displaying messages to which the user's attention will be drawn. The invention further relates to a centralized notification system and method that receives and manages notification alerts containing notification data from a variety of resources, and generates and distributes interactive notifications to a variety of recipients.
2. Description of the Related Art
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are widely used means of displaying output information on a computer or other electronic device. With the advent of high resolution video processing and larger diagonal size display technology, large amounts of information can be displayed on the computer screen at one time. Growth of usage of the global Internet has been driven by creation of and demand for interactive content such as, e.g., World Wide Web pages downloaded from a server to a client computer and displayed on the client computer using the GUI and other software such as a web browser. Other content such as audio, video, streaming, and other data can be displayed using a GUI.
The advanced video processing and display technology, Internet connectivity and GUIs enable large amounts of information content to be sent to and displayed to a client user. For example, web pages can contain large amounts of interactive content such as text, images, animation, video, audio and hyperlinks to other content. Examples of hyperlinks can include underlined text or graphical images which can be selected to branch to the other content.
Included in such interactive content can be, e.g., advertising content such as, e.g., ad messages. Ad messages permit the client user to “click-through” to the sponsor of the web page by selecting a hyperlink. Advertising servers can be used to track client user traffic and to present targeted ad messages within a web page, by using such technologies as “cookies,” ad servers, and demographic global profiling services such as, e.g., ProfileServer 4.0 available from Engage Technologies, Inc. of Andover, Mass., and DART available from DoubleClick. Advertising revenue can be used to support further content development.
Unfortunately, conventional web sites provide such vast amounts of data on a given web page that advertising messages or “trees” can be lost in the “forest” of information provided by a web page to the client user. Evidence of the ineffective reach of conventional Internet advertising messages is seen in the decreasing click through rates observed by traffic tracking companies. Similarly, in television applications, viewers often tape programs and use fast-forwarding technology to skip commercials. Attempts to respond to the challenge of providing advertising and other messages that are not easily overlooked have unfortunately fallen short. For example, pop up web pages, such as those provided by free web hosting sites are intrusive and are often closed by client users leaving negative rather than positive impressions. These self-appearing screens, or dialog boxes (i.e. Windows), are even more problematic for the users of a running application or network-based service since dialog boxes take control of the desktop environment for a specific period of time and interrupt the continued operation of any running application or network-based service. Users, especially those working in highly productive environments such as network management or any other mission critical environment (e.g., nuclear power plant, emergency medical facility, call centers, etc.) are subject to on-going applications and/or service interrupt whenever new information, messages or other data are displayed on the display screen of their particular electronic device. To complicate matters, the message area of self-appearing screens, or dialog boxes (e.g., Windows), often command a large portion of on-screen “real-estate” or space and can prevent a user from achieving greater productivity and data visibility within a particular computing environment.
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) include a cursor icon, such as, e.g., a mouse pointer, to permit a user to click on particular information. Comet Cursor, available from Comet Systems, Inc. of New York, N.Y., provides a cursor icon which can be presented as a corporate logo, for example. Unfortunately however, the Comet Cursor is limited to only the 32 by 32 pixel-sized cursor icon area. Also, the cursor lacks a provision to enable a user to act upon an impulse to purchase or to gather additional information about the company or product represented by the cursor icon in the shape of a corporate or product logo.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved message and advertising delivery system that can focus a user's attention on the message and/or advertising material while ensuring that the user's ability to perform traditional functions is not impeded. There is a further need for an improved cursor icon system which can permit a client user to take action based on content shown on a cursor icon. There is also a further need for an improved messaging display and delivery system that can enable a user to conveniently receive and access data and related applications, and collaborate with other users, without interfering with the operation of running applications or services.
There is also a need for a centralized notification system and method in a client-server environment that receives events and generates and delivers interactive notifications to end-users. There is additionally a need to provide end-users with time-critical information at the exact moment that the information is needed without interfering with applications and services that are already in use by the end-user. There is a further need to provide end-users with direct access to the resource that originated the notification, or to another resource that can assist a user in completing a task associated with the notification.